A New Kind Of Flock
by wolflover777
Summary: Max is a human-lupine-avian hybrid. The flock meets her when they're sent to a branch of the School. Will she help them escape? What adventures will follow afterwards? It's kind of a strange idea, but it has a good plot. Fax eventually. R&R!
1. Meeting Max

**AN: Alright, guys, this is kind of a strange idea, but I decided to try it out. Tell me what you think! It's going to mostly be in Fang's POV, with Max's POV occasionally thrown in there.**

I struggled against the three Erasers that were holding me. Nudge, Angel, Gazzy, and Iggy were struggling against there's too, looking so fierce. Is it wrong to say that that makes me proud? I was cut off as we approached another Eraser, who was holding open a door.

She looked different from the other Erasers. She was shorter than me, about 5'8'', and she had dirty blond hair. Her eyes were a brown like melted chocolate, and she looked bored. Huh. Usually Erasers looked like little kids on Christmas whenever they got a chance at us. Her features had the same feral look to it that the other Erasers had, but at the same time, she seemed different.

She let the others drag us into the room and throw us into cages. "Watch over them, Max. If they try to escape, take them out." a whitecoat said. Nice to know that we're not expendable.

"Whatever you say, captain." Max said sarcastically, mock-saluting him. Then she rolled her eyes. She sat next to my cage idly.

"Get away from me." I growled at her. She rolled her eyes, not threatened by me at all. Which was weird. Usually, people cowered away from my death glare.

"Relax." she said casually. "They're only going to keep you here until they get rid of your expiration dates." She leaned back against my cage.

"They can do that?" I asked, shocked.

Max shrugged. "They give you a shot and it takes the expiration date out of your genes. I don't know the exact science of it." She looked at me over her shoulder, studying me carefully. "You guys are the flock, right?"

My head snapped up. "How do you know that?"

She smirked. "Everyone knows you guys." she said. "You're heroes around this place for a lot of the experiments. Gives them hope that they'll escape one day too."

"Why are you telling us all this? Doesn't this place have hidden microphones or cameras? And what are they going to do with us after they take our expiration dates away?" I demanded. I know it's a lot for me to say, but someone had to ask.

She smirked, still looking at me from over her shoulder. "You're in one of the smaller and less funded branches of the School. It has crappy security. But this School is the only place that has the serum to get rid of the expiration dates so far, since it was just recently discovered here. They don't have enough of the serum yet to ship it off to the other Schools. So they sent you here, and they're going to transfer you afterwards. As to why I'm telling you this, it's because I'm going to help you out as soon as they get rid of the dates." she said.

"What?" we all shouted.

"Keep it down!" Max hissed, giving us a stern look. "They might not have a great security, but that doesn't mean they're deaf! And, yes, I'm going to help you."

"Why?" Angel asked all innocently. "I mean, Erasers hate us."

"Well, that's not exactly true. We have a natural bloodlust. But, unlike the others, I'm not the whitecoats' little lapdog. I do my own thing. And, luckily for you, I decided that I want to help the famous flock break out of a little situation." Max said, grinning at her. It was feral, but…nice, in a way. Geez, those Erasers must've hit me harder than I thought.

"Besides, between me and you, I'm not totally an Eraser. I'm a human-lupine-avian hybrid. Try saying that ten times fast." Max added.

"So…you have wings? Like us?" Gazzy asked.

Max nodded. She leaned forward and extended her wings, showing us. I had to admit, they looked pretty awesome. It was so strange. An Eraser trying to help us.

"I still don't trust you." Iggy said.

"Neither do I." I agreed.

"Understandable." she murmured. "After all, I am part Eraser."

"Besides, Jeb told us that everything was a test. And it would suck if you were acting like you wanted to help us, but then you ended up just testing us. And plus, we'd be really, really mad, and…" Nudge said, going off into this whole rant.

Max raised an eyebrow at her. "Nudge, right?" she asked, pointing at her. Nudge nodded. "Yeah, let's keep the rants to a minimum right now." she said.

She moved to lean against an empty cage beside me, so she could look at all of us. "So, good ol' dad gave you the 'everything is a test' speech too, huh?" I asked.

My eyes widened. "Jeb's your dad?" Iggy asked. The others jaws were pretty much on the floor right now.

"Yep. Good old daddy dearest. Too bad I hate the guy's guts. As for the test thing, he told me the same thing when I was about Angel's age. He's drilled it into me ever since. This isn't some kind of test though. I can help you, but you guys are going to have to trust me. They give you the shots in about an hour. Then they're going to move you tomorrow. But I need to know that you guys will trust me, and do what I tell you to do." Max said. She was serious now.

"I think we should listen to her, Fang. She's not lying." Angel said. "She's even letting me read her thoughts now. She didn't let me do that before."

"So," Iggy said in his cocky voice, "are we your heroes too?" he asked Max.

Max cracked up. "No." she said. "I don't need a hero. I'm old enough to know that if you want something done, you have to go out there and do it yourself. Not wait for some guy in stretchy tights to do it for you."

We sat there, the others talking with Max, for about an hour. She wouldn't talk about her past, and she didn't say much about her abilities. It was strange. She seemed like she was really open, but she was actually very closed off and mysterious. I kind of wanted to know more about her. She was definitely an interesting girl.

True to her word, the whitecoats came in an hour later, pushing a cart with five shots on it, as well as some other stuff. "Take out the dark haired one. The boy." one of them said, pointing to me.

Max rolled her eyes, but obediently opened the door and dragged me out. Damn, she was strong! She firmly held my hands behind my back. "It's going to hurt," she said in my ear, low enough so the whitecoats wouldn't hear, "but it really is for the better. Just hang in there."

I nodded. One of the whitecoats stepped forward and jammed the shot into my arm. The pain was excruciating. It felt like I was being flayed alive. My knees buckled, and I would've collapsed if it hadn't been for Max holding me up. I barely registered the reassurances she was mumbling in my ear.

Slowly, so freaking slowly, the pain subsided. It wasn't until my breathing evened out that the whitecoats ordered Max to put me back into my cage. Then she grabbed Iggy. I immediately tensed. I didn't want him to go through that. They couldn't put the rest of the flock through that.

I looked over at Max. She was grimacing, like she didn't want to watch this. Like she knew what this pain was like. She met my eyes for a split second and gave me a sympathetic look. The same whitecoat jammed a shot into Iggy's arm, and I watched as he convulsed and groaned. Max was murmuring reassurances to him too, her lips barely moving. The whitecoats couldn't even tell.

This happened with all of the flock. One of the whitecoats stayed behind, while the others left. "So, Maximum, when did you get so close with these experiments?" the whitecoat asked.

"What'd you mean, Mark?" she asked.

"I mean that you seem very close to them. You know, I'm thinking of transferring you to another unit." Mark said. I saw dismay enter the rest of the flock's eyes. If Max was transferred, she couldn't help us. And we needed all the help we could to get out of here.

"Close? To these scumbags? What kind of crack are you smoking?" Max asked. She kicked over Nudge's cage, a murderous look in her eyes. She grinned wickedly at Mark, then moved it to Nudge. "I can't wait to sink my teeth in them."

Mark looked alarmed. He press a button from a remote he pulled out. Electric shocks went through Max's body. Her hands flew up to her neck, grabbing a collar that I hadn't seen before. Max snarled at Mark, her face twisted in pain for only a split second before it went blank.

"Maximum! You will leave these subjects alone! They're–"

"–very important for research. Yeah, yeah, I know." Max said, shooting a disappointed look in Nudge's direction. Mark nodded and turned, but I saw Max's hand shoot out and grab something as he walked by her. Mark didn't notice.

"You better behave yourself, Maximum. You don't want to be put in the isolation tank again, do you?" Mark asked her, half way out the door.

"No, sir." Max replied.

"What the hell?" Iggy hissed as soon as the guy had closed the door. "I thought you were on our side!"

"I am." Max replied. She sat down, leaning against the empty cage again. She rubbed her neck, wincing slightly.

"Are you okay?" Gazzy asked worriedly. "What's that collar?"

"This collar shoots electricity through the person wearing it, in very painful doses. It's like a tasser that someone can activate at the push of a button." Max replied.

"Well, what was up with that little stunt of yours? You scared me!" Nudge exclaimed, really mad.

Max shrugged. "I had to make him think that I didn't like you guys, or else he would transfer me. Then you wouldn't get out of here." she said. "Plus, I took the opportunity to steal the key to this collar. Now, when we bust out of here, they can't track me with the collar." she said.

Angel was watching Max with sad eyes. "You knew you were going to get shocked. But you did that anyways, for us." she said knowingly.

Max looked over at Angel. "It's rude to read another person's thoughts, my little mind-reader." she said in an almost motherly tone. "A person's mind is their private sanctuary. It's the only place they can think and act freely without others judging them. A person's thoughts are private, and you shouldn't read them unless you are given permission." Her voice was stern, but strangely caring at the same time.

"Okay Max." Angel said, looking a little guilty.

"So, we bust out of here tomorrow?" I asked her. I was ready to get out of here. I _needed_ to get out of here. The cages were making my claustrophobia work in overdrive.

She nodded. "I'll let you in on the plan tomorrow morning before the whitecoats come. Right now, you all need to get some sleep. I'll keep watch." she said. "I'll wake you up if someone comes in."

"Yeah right. Like I'd trust you to watch our backs." I said, rolling my eyes.

Max rolled her eyes right back at me. "You're going to have to trust me tomorrow. Why not start tonight? Just get some sleep. I'm not in the mood to argue with you, because I just got 150,000 volts of electricity through my body. So shut up and get some sleep." she said, glaring at me. Geez, and I thought _my_ death glare was scary. Hers was _terrifying_. I finally consented, but still didn't fall asleep for about two hours. This was going to take some work. I still couldn't get over my _you can't trust Erasers_ mindset.

Then again, you can't really blame me.

**AN: Okay, so I know it's a weird idea, but just give it a chance. Review, and tell me what you think, and what I need to improve on. Thanks!**


	2. Escape

**AN: Hello readers! It seems like you guys liked this idea, so I'm going to keep going with it! So here's chapter 2!**

**P.S. I don't own MR.**

"Hey. Get up." someone whispered in my ear. "Fang, get up now. The whitecoats are coming." The voice had turned into a growl. I opened my eyes slowly, then looked up. Max was in a crouch beside my cage. She was frowning down at me, and annoyed, _hurry up we don't have much time_ look. I was instantly up.

"What's going on?" I asked her.

She looked over her shoulder toward the door. I heard the rest of the flock quiet down to listen. "They're going to take you to a truck in the cages. Our only chance is to break you guys out before they reach the truck. I'll take the collar off on our way there." She reached up and broke the locks off of all our cages. "You'll have to hold your cage doors shut so they won't suspect anything."

"And if they check the cages before we leave?" Iggy asked.

Max smirked. "They won't. They've never come across it before, so they won't check for it. I told you, this School is a small one." Max looked back towards the door. "They're coming. So look pretty, talk smart, and act like you hate me."

"There isn't any acting to be done." I muttered. Max glared at me, but I just grinned. "Geez, I was kidding."

"Shut up, Fang." she growled. She stood up just as the door opened. That Mark guy came in, and Max stiffened. They were pushing a cart, and had Max lift up our cages onto the cart. She made a show of being rough, and we held onto the cage doors, just like she told us. She walked behind the whitecoats as they pushed our cart.

I looked over at her and almost gasped. But that would've given her away. She'd stopped just outside of the entrance to the School and changed into a wolf. Her fur was the same color as her hair, and she had the same eyes. She was also bigger than a normal wolf, but she looked like one.

She finished morphing and charged, clamping down on Mark's ankle. I could see that she didn't have the collar on anymore. She must've taken it off before she changed. Mark screamed in agony and kept pressing the switch for the collar, but it was usless.

Max's eyes met mine and she growled. I took it as a hint that now was the time to move. "Move guys!" I yelled. We busted out of our cages. "U and A!" The others went into the air. Erasers started coming out of the School, and I stayed behind worried about Max. She saw me and rolled her eyes before taking off. Not as in flying, but running.

I shook my head did a running take off, my wings beating powerfully. As I got higher, I looked down at Max, and realized why she wasn't flying with us. It was like her wings had just disappeared. I couldn't see them. She was running right towards the fence. When she got to it, she jumped, literally launching herself over the fence and landing with a thump on the other side. Then she disappeared into the woods, as we disappeared into the cloud cover above.

"I can still hear her thoughts." Angel said, her eyes closed. "She's giving us some directions. She wants to meet us in a cave on the cliff above Lake Mead." She opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Do you know how to get there?" I asked her.

Angel nodded and frowned, looking confused. "She wanted to know what all our sizes are too." she said, confused. "Like, clothes sizes."

I frowned, but gave her the information. We flew to Lake Mead and found the cave. Then we waited for about an hour and a half before Max showed up. She was wearing new black jeans, and a dark blue shirt, and she was wearing black converses. Over that was a black jacket with blue paint splatters. She threw a bag to me, and I found it to be full of new clothes for all of us. She got all black clothes for me. A light pink shirt and blue jeans for Angel. A purple shirt and jeans for Nudge. Camo for Gazzy. And a red shirt and blue jeans for Iggy.

I looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged. "Thought you guys needed some new clothes."

"Not that I'm not glad, but why didn't you let us go with you?" I asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "Where do you think my clothes go when I change?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "Don't even ask me how I got these."

I shook my head. "I don't even want to know."

"So now what?" Gazzy asked.

"I think Max should join us." Nudge said instantly. Max looked somewhat surprised by this.

"Yeah! That would be cool!" Angel said.

I looked at Gazzy and he grinned. "I think it'd be cool to." he said excitedly.

Iggy shrugged. "I'm game."

I carefully looked at the three younger kids. I was kind of like the father figure to them, and Iggy was like the fun uncle. But they didn't really have a mother figure. And I think they needed one. I glanced at Max. "Well, it's your choice. Do you want to be part of our flock?" I asked her.

She seemed to think about it, but then she grinned. "Sure, why not?" she replied.

The rest of us looked around and grinned. "Any chance you got some food while you were out?" Iggy asked. Max nodded her head towards the entrance of the cave. There were several bags there. I could see that there were also new backpacks for us too.

"There's some food and other supplies in those bags over there." she said. "Trust me, I wouldn't forget the food. I have to eat even more than your average bird-kid does." She grinned at us.

I raised my eyebrows. "I doubt that." I said.

She shrugged. "It's true. Wolves eat more than birds. So wolf-bird-girls eat more that regular bird-kids." she said, sticking her tongue out at me. It was weird. She could be so serious at times that it was hard to remember that she was just a kid.

Iggy walked over and grabbed food out of the bags Max brought. It's so hard to remember that he's blind sometimes. As he and Gazzy started building the fire, Max gave me a confused look. "The blind kid is doing the cooking?" she asked warily.

I nodded. "Believe it or not, if it wasn't for the blindness and mutant bird-kidness, Iggy could open his own restaurant. He's an amazing cook. Which I find weird because he's blind, so how can he see if the food is cooked right? Like, how does he–" I slapped my hand over Nudge's mouth. What? You didn't really think that was me, did you?

"Huh." Max said, looking at Iggy in surprise. Then she looked mad. "You know, it's a sad day when a blind kid can cook better than I can." She seemed to think about that for a second. "Then again, a dead raccoon could cook better than I can." she added, scowling.

The rest of us just laughed. Having Max around was going to make things a lot more interesting. Max moved to sit next to Iggy and watched him cook. She seemed fascinated by the idea that a blind kid could cook. I must've been staring, because, without turning around, she said, "Take a picture. It'll last a whole heck of a lot longer." She looked back at me from over her shoulder and scowled at my amused look. "Don't look at me like that. I'm naturally a very curious person." she added.

"You know what they say, curiousity killed the cat." Gazzy said.

"And satisfaction brought it back." Max sang, smirking in his direction. The rest of the kids laughed at this, and I offered her a half-smile. She looked at me for a second, then quickly turned away to watch Iggy cook again.

…What's up with her?

**Hello people. I'm in Orlando! Unfortunately, that means that it might be harder for me to update. But update I will! Oh, and review. Ideas/suggestions/requests are always considered.**


	3. What Strange Bird Kids

**AN: Hello peoples! We're finally going to get Max's view in this chapter! Whoo! **

**P.S. I don't own MR. That's all JP's responsibility.**

(Max's POV)

I groaned as I woke up, silently cursing the sun in my head. Until I remembered that there was a mind reader sleeping less than a foot away from me. I stood up and rolled my shoulders. I winced as I stretched out my wings and shook them, working out the kinks.

"Max?" someone said groggily.

"Yeah?" I replied, looking over to see Fang sitting up and rubbing sleep out of his eyes. His hair was disheveled and he looked around sleepily. It was…never mind. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're up a little early, don't you think?" he asked.

I shrugged. "This is about the time I got up at the School." I replied, wincing again as my wings cramped up.

Fang, being the attentive person he is, even when half-asleep, noticed. He stood up and made his way over to me, careful not to step on any of the others. "What's wrong?" he asked, sounding more awake, and worried.

"Relax, mother hen. I must've rolled onto my back in my sleep last night." I said, wincing. "You know how laying on your back for too long kills your wings."

He nodded and carefully grabbed one of my wings. Even though he was surprisingly gentle, I still stiffened. The only ones who really touched my wings were whitecoats, and it usually ended up hurting. "Relax, Max." Fang ordered, scowling when he realized he rhymed. "I'm just helping. I have to do this for the kids sometimes."

Then he used his hands to find all of the kinks and cramps in my wings, rubbing them. At first, it hurt, but then it started feeling better, and soon I was totally relaxed. "Better?"

I nodded. "Thanks." I said uncertainly. I'm not used to having to deal with others. Usually I just dealt with whitecoats, and that usually ended in a punishment of some sort or another.

"Your welcome." he replied. I sat against the cave wall, leaning my head back and closing my eyes again. I heard him walked around for a minute, then I heard him lay down. But I knew he wasn't asleep. His breathing was too harsh and deep for sleep.

"Max? I don't really think you should fall asleep like that. You're going to hurt your wings again." Fang suggested.

"I'm not going back to sleep." I replied. "I'm not tired." I was still getting used to their scents. Right now, they seemed to be assaulting my nose, something new and interesting that had my wolf side nearly bursting with curiosity. But there was also the part of both my human and wolf side that said that I needed to be wary around them. That I didn't know if they were truly allies yet, because I didn't know much about them.

It always annoyed me. My bird, wolf, and human instincts were constantly clashing. Basically, it was almost constant turmoil inside my head. "Hey, Max. Can I ask you a question?" Fang asked.

I opened one eye lazily. "You just did." I replied, smirking.

He rolled his eyes. "Were you an Eraser or an avian hybrid first?" he asked.

Both of my eyes shot open and I watched him closely. I was an avian hybrid when I was born. When I was one, They grafted Eraser DNA into me. That's why I'm different from the other Erasers. I look older than my actual age, but I don't age as quickly as normal Erasers do."

I could see that I had already lost him, so I sighed. "You know how some Erasers are five, but they look like they're twenty-seven?" I asked. He nodded. "Well, I'm sixteen, but like you guys, someone could only mistake me for a nineteen year old at the most. Also, I can morph into a full wolf, or a wolf-man type thing."

"But your wings don't stay?" he asked.

I shrugged. "When I morph fully, my whole body changes. The wings recede back into my back. But when I half morph, they don't."

"Huh." he said.

I looked over at the others. "When do we wake them up?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Now, I guess. You wake up Angel and Nudge. I'll get Gazzy and Iggy."

I nodded and walked over to Angel. "Angel." I called, using both my voice and my mind. "Angel, come on. It's time to wake up." She groaned and rolled over, ignoring me. "Don't make me throw you in the lake."

"I'm up. I'm up." she said, instantly going into a sitting position. I chuckled and steady her when she sat up too fast.

I moved on to Nudge, grabbing her shoulder and shaking it. "Wake up, Nudge." I said. She didn't respond. I sighed and pulled her into a sitting position. She opened her eyes, but looked around hazily, still mostly asleep. I sighed and picked her up and over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I sat her next to the fire Iggy made and rubbed her back to wake her up.

"So, where are we going to go?" Iggy asked as he handed us our food.

"Wherever you guys want to go, I guess." I replied, before focusing solely on my food. What? I need a lot of calories to keep me going. When food is involved, I don't find conversation really important.

"Let's go to D.C!" Gazzy exclaimed. "They have a spy museum there!"

Iggy, Angel, and Nudge agreed, while Fang frowned. He looked at me, as if for my opinion. I didn't say anything. Both my wolf and avian side was screaming at me not to, so I didn't. You don't go into someone else's pack or flock and start making decisions. I was the outsider here.

"Max?" Fang asked. I shrugged. Giving him a _it's your choice_ look. He sighed. "Max, as part of the flick, you have to help with flock decisions."

I sighed. "I don't exactly like sightseeing, but D.C. might be a good idea. After all, it's on the other side of the state from the School. I'm not saying they won't find us, but it might give us some time before they do. Happy?"

Fang stared at me for a minute. "Yep."

I rolled my eyes. Geez, these people are the strangest, most stubborn, mutant-bird kids I've ever met. Not that I've met many mutant-bird kids. "You're annoying." I told Fang bluntly.

"Glad to know you love me so much." he muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes.

"I heard that." I said, punching him on the arm. He stared at me, shocked. I rolled my eyes and added, "Don't look so surprised. I'm part wolf. They have very good hearing."

"Great. We have a girl with bionic hearing. Wonderful." Fang grumbled. "And we thought it was hard to have privacy with a devious mind reader. Now we have someone almost as bad too."

"Hey!" Angel and I both protested at the same time. "Not fair!"

Fang held up his hands in surrender. Iggy and Gazzy chuckled while Nudge giggled. Angel and I pouted. Well, Angel pouted and I crossed my arms and glared at all four of them. These were the strangest people I've ever had to deal with before. And I'm actually starting to think that's a good thing.

**AN: Sorry if it's not very good. I wasn't very sure how to get the story started. Review, and tell me what you think! Please and thank you!**


	4. Family Problems

**AN: Yo. What's up? I'm back, and ready for action. So here's the next chapter and I don't own MR! Just so you know. Don't you just hate disclaimers? You'd think that, eventually, people would just kind of **_**assume**_** you aren't JP. Just saying. But I digress (love that line!). Enjoy the chapter!**

(Fang's POV)

We took off for D.C. as soon as we finished breakfast. I was flying in the front and Max in the back, while Iggy and Gazzy were behind us, discussing something I'm sure would get them in trouble later on down the road. Nudge and Angel were behind them, probably discussing something that would torture me for different reasons (Aka shopping, fashion, my "ridiculous obsession with black", etc. Yeah, nice to know you love me guys.)

Suddenly, Max was right next to me. "If I have to hear one more second of Nudge and Angel's conversation, I'm going to implode." she growled, her wolf side showing some.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "I didn't think you'd be able to hear it over the wind. You were pretty far back from them." I replied.

Max shrugged. "Again, wolf hearing. It's freaking awesome." Then she seemed to remember the very reason why she'd come up here in the first place. "Well, sometimes it's awesome." she added, scowling.

I chuckled. "What were they going on about this time?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Something about not wearing white after labor day. I don't get that. Why can't you just wear whatever the hell color you want to, when you want to?" She shook her head. "I don't get fashion."

I laughed. "What?" she said defensively.

"It's just, you don't meet many girls that say that." I said, chuckling. "And I'm used to living with one girl who's very into it, and another that she's corrupting."

Max looked over her shoulders at Angel. "We can always hope she turns out to be a tomboy in her teen years." she said with false hope.

I shook my head. "Nah. I don't think we're that lucky." I said, finally getting my mask back on. I don't know what it is about her, but I seem to be more…open around her. And this is coming from the Emotionless Brick Wall. She shrugged, then moved back to fly over Nudge and Angel. She gave them a thoughtful look, like she was trying to decide something. Suddenly, she dropped onto of Angel and they dropped about thirty feet.

When they righted themselves, Angel looked confused and Max was just grinning. "You're it." she said simply, before flying away from Angel. I saw the rest of the flock grin before Angel started chasing after the rest of us. She soon tagged Nudge, who tagged Gazzy, who tagggede Iggy, who tagged Gazzy again, who tagged me, and then I tagged Max, and it went on and on for about two hours.

Eventually, Max called out quits for the game. We flew to the next town to get lunch. When we landed, we walked into the Burger King. Max told us to order and that she'd pay for it. So, we did, and, let me tell you, that cashier's eyes couldn't get any bigger. Max handed him a credit card and then led us over to a table.

I sat down next to Max. Angel was on her other side. Gazzy, Iggy, and Nudge were sitting across from us, in that order. Nudge and Angel were talking to each other, and Iggy and Gazzy were whispering to each other about something that I knew would piss me off later down the line.

"You guys do realize I can hear you, right?" Max asked them, not even looking up from her cheeseburger. They stared at her in shock. When she didn't hear an answer, she looked up, smirking when she saw their faces. "Wolf hearing rocks. And no, you will _not_ be making that on Iggy's watch tonight."

Iggy glared. "You're not the boss." he replied.

"No, but I do know that Fang would kill you for that, and he would probably agree with me. Besides, that's a very dangerous weapon you're thinking about." Max dropped the smile and her eyes got distant. "Trust me, I've seen the effects."

"What?" I asked.

Max looked at me. "They were talking about making a fire bomb. Basically, it explodes and the radius it covers catches fire. There's nothing worse than–" Max cut herself off and looked at the others. Angel, Nudge, and Gazzy were looking at her curiously. "Never mind." she murmured.

She went back to eating. Angel scowled and got a concentrated look on her face. "Angel, stop trying to read my mind." Max said, again not looking up. "Trust me, you don't want to know."

"Never?" Angel asked innocently.

"Never ever." Max replied. "Now finish eating or you'll be short."

Angel stared at her. "That's not true." she said.

Max gave her a mock-hurt look. "Are you calling me a liar? I'll have you know that I've never lied…" she trailed off and started chuckling. "No, I can't even say that with a straight face. Anyways, eat your food, or you'll be a midget forever."

"I'm not a midget!" Angel said, offended. Max smirked at her.

"I don't know, I think you're the shorty." I told Max.

She frowned and playfully glared at me. "I see how it is. Take her side." she grumbled.

Iggy grinned at me. "Well, technically you're all shortys to me." he said. I kicked him under the table and he yelped. "Wimp." I said. He glared at me and rubbed his shin.

Max smiled and shook her head. Then suddenly, she went from smiling and somewhat relaxed, to scowling and stiff as a board. She discretely looked over her shoulder as the bell on the door rang, tell us someone was coming in or going out. Max's nostrils flared and she cursed under her breath, turning back to the rest of us.

"What is it?" I whispered.

Max looked over Nudge, Iggy, and Gazzy towards the exit door. "Erasers." she answered, even quieter than me, her lips barely moving. "On the count of three, run for the exit door, Fang and Iggy first, in case there's some outside. Understood? If we get separated, meet in the woods, thirty miles west of here." We all nodded.

Right then, she sounded very…leaderly. Like she knew what she was doing. I took a closer look at her. Behind her emotionless mask, she looked worried. But she did the same thing I did. She sounded calm and in control for the kids. And…she did it better than me.

Luckily, I'd had a talk with her and taught her all of our codes. So, hopefully, she remembered that three meant one.

_She does_, Angel said. Or thought. Whatever.

"One." Max said. We all got up and sprinted towards the exit. I looked behind us to see if everyone was there, just to see that Max had stayed behind. Two Erasers were coming after us, already starting to morph, and Max was standing between us and them. Damnit! That's why she gave us a meeting location! She wasn't coming with us.

Then I was bursting through the door. Then, I felt someone wrap their arm around my neck and squeeze. I cursed in my head as I saw about five Erasers around us, not including the one holding me.

I must be the luckiest person in the world because something rammed into the Eraser holding me. I turned to see that Max was lying on top of the Eraser, obviously having been thrown through the door. I looked back at the door, which was almost completely off its hinges. Okay, someone threw her through the door _hard_.

I kicked the Eraser underneath her in the head twice, to knock him out and then helped her up. She was half morphed, and, let me tell you, she looked_ terrifying_. The other two Erasers came out of the busted door.

One of them grinned at her. "Maxie." he said, holding out his arms as if to hug her. "It's been too long, sis."

"Really? I'd say it hasn't been long enough." she growled.

"What now?" I murmured.

"Now you die." Ari replied, throwing himself at Max. Then they were rolling, a ball of snarling, growling, biting, and scratching. Occassionally we'd hear a dog-like whine. I looked around us and noticed something else. Everyone was watching Max and Ari. The other Erasers weren't attacking us.

"So, what's going on here?" Iggy asked one. "I thought you came here for us."

The Eraser smirked. "Don't worry, you'll get your turn. But the boss said we can't attack until he's finished off the traitor."

"Traitor?" Angel asked, confused.

"Her." he clarified, pointing at Max. Or, in her general direction. It was kind of hard to follow her and Ari. "She betrayed us."

"But aren't they brother and sister?" Nudge asked. "Why would he want to kill her?"

The Erasers all laughed. "Are you kidding?" the Eraser that had been talking asked. "Max and Ari have the most screwed up family around. Their half-siblings. Max never knew her mother, and hates her father with every fiber of her being. Ari always wanted Jeb's attention, and he's never given it. Max just wants to forget he exists, but he was always breathing right down her neck, punishing her harder and pushing her harder than any other experiment. Ari's mother was Jeb's actual wife, died a few months giving birth to Ari." The Eraser shook his head. "Families like that makes me glad I don't have one. There's a lot of hate in that family."

We went back watching the fight. Max and Ari were standing apart from each other now, circling each other and panting, hard. "Well, well, well. Daddy's little girl has figured out some new tricks." Ari sneered past his panting.

Max smirked back at him. "Daddy loves me best." she snarled.

"At least I'm better than you are. You're a freak even to freaks." Ari was growling now.

"Look who's talking. At least my wings weren't sewed on." Max spat back. Geez. Guess that Eraser was right.

"At least my mom stuck around." Ari snarled, looking like he was about to pop a vein.

Max shook her head. "You know, I could say something to that, but I'm going to be the bigger person and not stoop to your level." she replied, giving Ari a disappointed look.

"Shut up!" he roared, talking her.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Iggy asked. "That sounds really bad."

"It's not your fight. We wouldn't let you get in the middle of it anyways." the Eraser said.

He stopped when Max suddenly pinned Ari. "You can't win, Ari. I'm older, faster, stronger, smarter, and more experienced. Just take your little mutts and leave."

"Shut up! You've always been this way! Always acting like you're so superior and you're the best! You aren't! You freaking aren't! Damnit! I hate you! _I hate you!_" Ari bellowed.

"Yeah, me too." Max said, shaking her head. Ari looked up at him in shock, but she was already up and running. "U and A! Now!"

We took off into the sky, all the Erasers too shocked to do anything. They definitely weren't expecting that. And neither were we.

(Max's POV)

"Did you mean that? What you said to Ari today?" Fang asked, sitting down next to me. The others were asleep. It was my watch and I was sitting at the entrance to the cave.

"Fang, it's my watch. Get some sleep." I said. I didn't want to talk about this.

"Stop trying to change the subject." he countered. "I'm not going to leave until you answer me."

"It's none of your business." I growled, deep and low. A warning. He was pushing it.

"Max, your part of the flock. We don't keep secrets. Your business is flock business now, and–"

"That's not how it works, Fang!" I snarled, standing up, giving him my worst death glare. The rest of the flock shot awake, but I ignored them. "I'm not some little lapdog, Fang! I'm not going to give you whatever you want just because you ask for it!"

"Yes, you are. That's what being a leader means. It means that you have to do what I say." He was standing up now too, glaring back at me. But I could see the fear in his eyes. He was just like the others. He thought I was unpredictable and short-tempered. I guess it's true. Maybe I am the monster everyone thinks I am.

"Is that what you really think, Fang? That being a leader is all about everyone following your orders?" He nodded. "Well guess what, that's not it. It's not about giving out orders. It's about taking a responsibility. And that responsibility is the lives of the people you're leading. It's your job to make sure they don't die, that they're protected. It means that you do whatever you have to do to protect the people under your leadership. If you don't understand that, then you won't make a good leader. I'm shocked that you weren't captured sooner." I brushed past him, opened my wings, and took off.

"Max! Max, come back!" I heard Fang yell after me. I heard him take off after me and flew faster. "Max! Stop! Please!" Suddenly, he was right in front of me. I abruptly stopped and glared at him. "Max, I never said you were a lapdog. I was just worried about you."

"You don't have to be. I can take care of myself, Fang. You don't get it. I've been on my own my whole life. I'm not used to being with others. And I'm not going to start spilling my heart out to you after knowing you for, what? Three days? And it was wrong of you to expect that." I told him. My voice sounded calm, but inside I felt like I was about to implode.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." Fang said.

"Whatever."

"Max, please come back. None of us want you to leave."

I looked down. Thanks to my combined raptor and wolf vision, I could see the rest of the flock anxiously staring up at the sky. I sighed. "Fine. But I'm not telling you." I said before folding my wings and diving back down to the cave.

"Max, are you okay?" Nudge asked. Everyone was looking at me worriedly.

I gave them all a small smile. "I'm fine. Go back to the sleep. It's still my watch."

"Are you sure?" Fang asked behind me.

"Yes." I replied, sitting in the same spot I did before I took off.

"Hey, Max?"

"What Fang?"

"You were right. About everything. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried like that. And you're right about the leader thing too." he said. His mask was still in place, but I saw that he really was sorry, and he really wanted me to forgive him.

I sighed. "Its fine, Fang. Just go to sleep. You've got second watch, after all."

Fang nodded and went to lie down. I turned away, but I could still feel Fang's eyes on me.

**AN: Sorry if it's not that good. But, I tried, and it's late. Review and tell me what you think!**


	5. The School's Going Down

**AN: I am **_**sooooo**_** sorry guys. I am so far behind. My cousin came, and I've been having major writer's block for pretty much all of my stories. Again, I'm really sorry about the long update. But I wrote two chapters to make up for it and I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR.**

(Fang's POV)

I woke up to Iggy shaking me. I groggily got into a sitting position and glared at him, still half-asleep. "What?" I asked grumpily.

"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I need firewood. I was hoping you and Max could go out to get it." Iggy replied, rolling his eyes at me.

I looked over to see Max already standing, leaning against the entrance of the cave. She yawned and rubbed sleep out of her eyes, looking like a six-year-old that just woke up from a long nap instead of a sixteen-year-old mutant. Then she stretched, and it reminded me of a puppy when they first get out of bed. You know, how their front half scoots forward when they stretch? Of course, I'm sure if Max knew what I was thinking, she'd murder me. Or at least carve me up pretty good.

Max groggily looked at me. Obviously not any happier than I was that we had to get up early. "Hurry up." she told me, speaking quietly enough so that she didn't wake up the kids. Her tone was commanding. "I'm hungry."

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up." I muttered, standing up and stumbling over to her, somehow managing to dodge the rest of the flock.

Max winced as I stumbled up to her. "Geez, you're about as quiet as a herd of freaking elephants." she muttered.

"Yeah, to your bionic hearing." I muttered back.

She smirked at me before throwing herself off the edge of the cliff. I followed, and, let me tell you, that woke me up. There's no kind of rush like that. I was hoping that our argument last night was done and forgotten. Max seemed to be acting normal, but there wasn't any telling. I didn't know Max well enough to know what exactly she was thinking about. I mean, yeah, I could read her, but that doesn't mean I always knew what I was reading.

Max and I landed as gracefully as two mutant hybrids with wings could. Which isn't too bad, but natural birds are definitely better. We instantly went around looking for firewood. I picked up fallen branches off the ground, and broke off some from the trees. Max didn't bother with ones from the ground. She broke off different branches, from an inch to five inches thick.

When we finally had enough, we took off again and flew back to the cave. We handed Iggy the firewood and he started making a fire. Max went to sit cross-legged at the cave entrance, probably deciding to keep guard. I eyed the bandages on her arms and legs, and knew there was one on her stomach as well. They were from her fight with Ari. They were shallow, and she said they didn't bother her, and weren't anything critical. But Max didn't like showing weakness, so, for all we know, she could be lying, but I didn't think she was.

The others were already up and moving around. Angel sat beside Max and looked out over the land beyond our temporary home. "It's really pretty, isn't it?" Angel asked Max.

Max looked down at her and smiled slightly. "Yeah, it is." she replied.

"But you're not looking at the view, are you?" I said, amusement clear in my voice.

Max looked back at me and frowned. "I just want to make sure that Ari and those other Erasers don't find us. He has enough motive to chase me to the ends of the freaking earth." she muttered, turning around again.

I wanted to ask why, but our fight from last night was still fresh on my mind. I remembered when she started flying away. I panicked, thinking that I'd pushed her too far, and I remember the same feeling written clearly over the rest of the flock's faces. I didn't want a repeat. I might not have had a good education, but I was a pretty fast learner.

Finally, breakfast was ready and Max and Angel joined us by the fire. Angel and Nudge were both talking excitedly to Max, who was patiently listening, occasionally adding in a comment of her own. Iggy and Gazzy were talking about bombs, while I was trying to ignore them. Ignorance is bliss.

When we were done, we once again took off. This time, there wasn't any games. The flock were in the same positions always were, with Angel and Nudge together and Iggy and Gazzy together. Max was flying up front with me, glancing over her shoulder to check on the others every so often.

"It'll still be awhile before we get to D.C." I said, trying to start a conversation.

Max nodded. "I figure we'll get there by mid-day tomorrow." she replied. She looked over me. "Why do you always wear black?"

I shrugged. "You can't see any stains on black clothes. Plus, it's just a cool color." She nodded, as if she'd expected this answer. I quickly checked around for Erasers, remembering the comment she made earlier this morning. I didn't want us being ambushed by a bunch of Erasers. Suddenly, I felt something whack me in the head, but it was light, almost playful.

Max had hit me in the head with her wing. "Geez, you're hearing sucks." she said, rolling her eyes. But she was smiling. "I said that you should relax. You have this really worried expression on your face. You'll freak the others out if they see that you're worried."

Oops. Must've let my mask slip by accident…don't look at me like that. No one is perfect. Even I show emotion _sometimes_, and you people can just get over it. "I'm just thinking about what you said this morning. About Ari and those other Erasers. I don't want to be ambushed. That's the last thing that we need." I replied, looking up at her.

She nodded. "I agree, but we shouldn't make the others worry. They already have enough to worry about as it is." she said, looking over her shoulder at the others.

"We need to get rid of the School. That's the only way we're ever going to be safe." I grumbled. I hadn't met for Max to hear me, but she did. Curse her bionic hearing.

Max looked at me sharply. "That's a suicide mission. Do you know how big the School is? How many bases they have? It'll be impossible to destroy them! Plus, you could get a bunch of people killed!" she whisper-yelled, flying closer to me so that the others wouldn't hear.

"So? We'd finally be safe. Besides, we're killing the bad guys!" I defended.

Max glared at me. "Look, I've killed people before. I can stand to have that on my conscience. I don't want the others to have to deal with hundreds, probably thousands of deaths on their conscience." she said icily.

"Well, is there some other way we could bring them down? Maybe we could destroy all their computers, or erase the files. I mean, each base has a main computer, right?" I asked.

She sighed, but nodded. "Each base has a main computer that controls everything in the base. Which is great and all, but A) we wouldn't be able to get to it without being noticed, B) how would we get into all the files, and C) how would we get out after causing all that damage without getting ourselves killed?"

She brought up some good points, but I had some points of my own to make. "We'd figure out how to get in when we got there, Nudge is a master hacker, and Iggy and Gazzy could just blow a hole in the ceiling and we'd fly out." I replied triumphantly.

"I guess." she said, still uncertain.

"Have you only been to that one School before?" I asked.

"'Course not. I've been to a bunch of them. Part of Jeb's 'training' or something." she replied, shrugging.

"Then you can help us with the layout, right?"

Max nodded. "All of the School's have pretty much the same layout. There are only a few differences." she replied. "The best place to enter would probably be the vents. It's not like they have security cameras up there. But when are you going to tell the others? I don't think they're really going to like the idea of going on a destroy-the-School mission."

"Well, they're going to have to get over it. It'll be good for all of us in the long run." I said, frowning up at her. "You are going to help me tell them, right?"

She shook her head and held her hands up. "This was your idea. You can take their wrath yourself. I'm not taking the fall for you, or with you."

"Thanks, Max. Great to know I can count on you." I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"Any time!" Max replied cheerily.

Damn that bionic hearing!

**AN: Again, I'm so sorry about the long update. It's just that I've been having major writer's block lately. So sorry guys.**


	6. Max and Ari

**AN: Here's the next chapter guys! This is to make up for the long update. Again, so sorry about that!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR.**

(Fang's POV)

_Fang! I'm hungry!_ Angel whined in my head. _Can we _please_ stop somewhere and get something to eat!_

"Fine!" I yelled. She'd been bugging me about it for about thirty minutes now. It was nighttime now, and I _was_ looking for a place to stay, before an eight-year-old mind reader suddenly and rudely interrupted me.

Max, who was still flying beside me, jumped at my sudden outburst, looking at me like I'd finally lost my mind. Then, a look of realization came upon her face as she realized what must be going on. She smirked at me. "The voices in your head bothering you again Fang. I know mine's killer." she said jokingly.

"Oh, haha, Max. You're hilarious." I growled.

She raised an eyebrow at me. "You've been hanging around me for too long." she said glaring playfully at me. "Stop it. The growling is my thing."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Are you hungry?" I asked her, annoyed.

She shrugged. Well, as much as you can shrug in the air. "I'm always hungry." she replied, watching me closely. "It's your call. Find a shelter, or get food first."

I sighed. "Let's just go eat some fast food. Pizza Hut or something." I replied tiredly.

She nodded and called out an order to descend. I led the way, with Max following directly behind me. We landed on top of the Wal-Mart and Max shook out her wings, trying to cool them off. "What's next?" she asked, folding her wings and making sure her shirt and jacket hid them. She looked up at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, I guess we go find something to eat." I replied.

She nodded and jumped off the roof, landing easily on her feet. The others followed her off. I was last and led the others through town. Eventually, we did find a Pizza Hut. We all ordered our own pizzas and sat down. Max was unusually quiet, looking out the window. She was warily studying our surroundings.

I gently nudged her leg with my foot. She ignored me. I did it again and she gave me an exasperated, _can I help you?_ look. I rose an eyebrow, frowning slightly. _What's wrong?_

She shook her head, the movement so slight that the others didn't even notice. _Nothing._

This time my frown deepened, my eyes hardening. _I know you're lying. What's really wrong?_

Max glanced at the others then gave me a meaningful look. _Later._ I wanted to question her more, but the pizza came. Besides, there are some things that you just can't express through looks.

(Max's POV)

We finally found a clearing to sleep in. I was taking first watch yet again. This was because, unlike the others, I wasn't tired. I was restless. I really wanted to go for a fly, but instead I opted for first watch. If Ari found them while I was gone, I'd be majorly ticked, and majorly guilty by the time I got back.

Fang sat down next to me and I stiffened. "What?" I asked.

"What's up with you?" he asked. "You've been so alert and tense lately."

"Nothing." I growled.

He sighed. "Max, you've got to stop trying to scare me off. Did you ever think that maybe telling someone something that's bugging you might help? That they might know an answer to your problem?" he asked. But it wasn't rude, and he was being very cautious. Probably afraid I was going to freak out on him again. Now that I've had some time to think, I kind of felt bad for that. It was uncalled for, and out of character for me. Even if I have a short temper, I usually had a much better hold on my emotions.

It was my turn to sigh. "I'm still not used to having people I trust." I replied. I put my hands behind my head and leaned back against the tree trunk. I was sitting in the branches, the flock spread out on branches around me. We would sit on the ground, but it was wet and muddy, so, obviously, we went for the much drier situation. "I haven't learned how to take advantage of it."

"Well, what's bothering you?" he tried again.

I looked up, avoiding his gaze. "It's Ari. Like I said, he's got a good motivation to hunt me down."

Fang hesitated. "And that would be…?" he asked carefully.

I sighed. "Fang, look, I'm not going to bite your head off, okay? What happened last night was…unusual for me. I guess it was just seeing Ari again. It unnerved me. After all, I haven't seen him for a couple years." I said awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck. "I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm sorry."

Fang nodded and relaxed some. "It's cool. And you don't have to tell me."

I nodded. Now was decision time. To tell, or not to tell? I didn't know what to do. I'd never really talked to anyone about my situation with Ari before. But here Fang was, offering to help me with it. And, who knows, maybe I'd actually end up forgiving myself.

"I was an experiment since before I was born." I started, making one of my famous snap decisions. Fang looked at me curiously, wondering where I was going with this. "I was seven when Ari was born. He was just a normal, human little boy. He was the cutest little brother anyone could want. But I ignored him. I wasn't really interested in a brother at that age. I was rebellious, using all of my energy for fighting the white coats, trying to resist experiments. I didn't have time for a little brother, I was just trying to survive.

"Then, when he was a year and a half, Jeb started moving me from one School to another. I'd visit at least five in a year. It was four years before I saw him again. This time, he looked like he was twenty-five, and he was an Eraser. He instantly hated me. Jeb spent all of his attention on me, and he hated me for it. And he hated it even more when he figured out that I hated Jeb, and that I didn't want his attention.

"To make things worse, Jeb made us fight against each other, and I'd always win. I should've been trying to help him. But I was still just focused on surviving. And I hated him just like he hated me. He harassed the other experiments, and put the other Erasers against me. I couldn't walk in a room without getting into a fight with another Eraser. He made my attempts at surviving that much harder. And I hated it that he couldn't see that our father wasn't worth his time.

"But I blame myself that he turned out the way he did. All I did was fight with him, or ignore him, or curse his name, when I should've been helping him. I should've talked with him, showed him that there was something in his life other than hatred and pain. But I didn't. And I regret it every freaking day." I finished.

"Max…" Fang trailed off, not sure what to say. "It's not your fault. It's those crazy scientists fault, and Jeb's fault. They're the ones that experimented on him and all that crap in the first place. You were just a kid. Besides, you already had a lot more to worry about than any other kid without worrying about your brother. Besides, you're sixteen, right? That means Ari's only…nine. You still have a chance. Talk to him next time, even if you have to do it while fighting. You can still save him."

I looked at Fang in shock. "Holy crap. That's the most I've ever heard you say. And the deepest thing I've ever heard you say." I said, still a little dumbstruck. Who was this and what did he do to Fang?

Fang rolled his eyes. "But, in all seriousness, you can't blame yourself for that. Your brother is the way he is because of those scientists and his dad."

I sighed. "I guess I just don't see it that way." I said, looking away again.

We were quiet for awhile before Fang finally broke the silence. "Your watch is over." he said.

I blinked and checked my watch. Huh. He was right. "You didn't get any sleep. Do you want me to wake up Nudge and have her take watch instead?" I asked.

"Nah, its fine."

"But–"

"Max, I'm taking second watch. Get some sleep." Fang said firmly, cutting me off. I shook my head. Stubborn idiot. I shifted position so I was laying down on the branch. I felt Fang brush some hair out of my face. "And stop blaming yourself for things you can't control." I heard him mutter before I drifted off.

**AN: Sorry if it's not very good. I promise that it won't take as long for me to update this time. My writer's block has just gotten in my way, and I was focused on one of my other stories, Under The Surface. I'd just gotten to a big part on the story, so I was focused on that. I'm really sorry about the long update. Please review and tell me what you think, and what I can improve on. And please don't hate me!**


	7. Injuries and Encouraging Talks

**AN: Me again. Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR.**

(Fang's POV)

You know what I hate being woken up by? The sound of an Eraser roaring at you. I snapped awake and looked below us. There were at least ten Erasers surrounding our tree. I looked over at Max. She was already up and alert, glaring down at the Erasers. The others were also up.

"What a wakeup call, huh?" Max asked casually, her eyes still on the Erasers. She looked up at me and the message was clear. She wanted us to leave and forget about them. I disagreed.

"Flock, listen up! Get ready for a rough fight!" I said and all of them nodded.

Max pressed her lips into a thin line. But she half-morphed and pounced on one of the Erasers. The rest of us followed her example, and the fighting began. I punched an Eraser in the stomach, hard, and kneed him in the face when he bent over. He hit the ground, clutching his broken nose.

Another one tried to sucker punch me, but I ducked just in time. I kicked him in the back and clapped my hands over his ears, busting his eardrums. He howled in agony as he went down. I looked around, checking on the rest of my flock. Gazzy and Iggy were fighting their own Erasers. I saw Nudge take down one, and go for another. Angel was mind controlling two Erasers to run into trees. Over. And over. And over again.

Then I saw him. An Eraser lunged at Angel, ready to tear her to shreds. "Angel!" I yelled, trying to warn her.

She turned around and screamed as she saw the Eraser. Then Max appeared out of nowhere, shoving Angel aside. The Eraser slammed into her with bone-breaking force, slashing open her side. One of the other Erasers Angel had controlled wasn't unconscious, and took the opportunity to bite down on Max's shoulder. Max snarled, biting down on the neck of the Eraser in front of her. She reached over her shoulder, which the other Eraser still had in his jaws, and raked her claws up his back, leaving deep, jagged wounds. I kicked another Eraser and punched him repeatedly in the head.

That took care of the Erasers. As soon as we were done, we all ran over to Max. She was back to her human…well, human-avian self. She was leaning against a tree, her right hand pressed against her side, and her left clutching her shoulder. She was breathing heavily, and blood was pouring from both of her wounds.

She sucked in a breath as Iggy's gentle fingers felt her wounds. He paled. "We've got to get you fixed up. Now." he said urgently.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Not with a bunch of passed out Erasers around us that could wake up at any time." she argued, grunting as she pushed herself off the tree. "Let's find another place first, then fix up my wounds."

We all tried to protest, but Max spread her wings and was already up in the air before we could. We quickly found another clearing. It was pretty far from where the Erasers were, and tucked in between two mountains. We hoped they wouldn't find us any time soon.

"Lay down." Iggy ordered. "Gazzy, lift her feet. Nudge, get the first aid kit. And Fang, find some kind of cloth to press against her wounds." We all hurried to do as we were told. I just took off my own shirt, balling it up and pressing it against her side wounds. I had Gazzy hand me one of Iggy's shirts and pressed it against her shoulder. She grimaced, but didn't make a sound.

Iggy quickly got to work, checking her wounds again and stitching them. Luckily, the Eraser that bit her somehow missed her wing. He got more of the actual shoulder and her arm. The wounds on her side looked horrible. They were big, gaping wounds that were pouring blood, but the Eraser didn't hit any organs. It was all just muscle damage.

Max fell asleep soon after that. I guess I couldn't really blame her. After all, getting mauled by a bunch of Erasers must really take it out of you.

(Max's POV)

I woke up some time during the middle of the night. I groaned and carefully sat up, mindful of the gashes on my side. "Max? Is that you?" Iggy asked. I looked over to see that he was sitting at the edge of the clearing, obviously on watch.

"Unfortunately." I replied.

"How are you feeling?"

I gave him an incredulous look, which was totally wasted on him.

"Like I just got mauled by a couple Erasers." I replied, rolling my eyes.

"So, not to good. Here." he said, passing me some painkillers. I took them. It only dulled the pain some, but it was better than nothing.

"Thanks. How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Not long, actually. Just a few hours. Which means you need to get more sleep." Iggy said.

"Alright, alright." I said. Muttering, I added, "Mother hen." Something that felt suspiciously like a shoe hit me in the head. "Hey! Don't throw stuff at the injured person!" I whisper-yelled, picking up Iggy's shoe and throwing it back at him. It hit him right in the middle of his back.

"Yeah, I'll remember that when you remember not to throw crap at the blind guy." he replied, amusement clear in his voice.

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, Ig. It's not that big of a handicap. I mean, you act like you're not blind all the time. And you cook like a five star chef."

"You really like my cooking that much?" he asked, turning to raise an eyebrow at me.

"'Course. You would too if you were forced to live off of the food the School gives you for the first sixteen years of your life, you'd be pretty happy too." I replied.

I saw Iggy shook his head. He stood up and shook Fang's shoulder. "Your watch." he told him. Then he turned to me. "Go back to sleep, Max. You need more rest."

"I'm going to talk to Fang first." I said, looking at Fang. Fang looked away, like he was ashamed.

Iggy nodded. "But not too long. Goodnight."

"'Night, Igs." I replied. Fang sat down at the edge of the clearing. I stood up and he instantly started protesting. "Max, lay back down! You're really hurt!" his ordered. Unfortunately, I didn't take orders well. I ignored him and sat next to him, leaning up against a tree.

"You should've left." I said. I didn't look at him. Instead, I looked at our sleeping flock members.

"I know." he replied, also avoiding eye contact.

"Why did you stay?" I asked.

I saw him slump down from the corner of my eye. "I don't know. I just thought we could easily take them out." I looked over at him. He still wouldn't meet my eyes.

"I know you knew what I think you should've done." I said, annoyance clear in my voice. "You should've left. I know you want to get rid of the School, and I'm all for that. But that doesn't mean you have to take down every Eraser that you come across."

"Yeah, well, I think that that's part of it." he replied stubbornly.

"Damnit, Fang!" I whisper-yelled. "Angel almost _died_ today. If I hadn't gotten in the way, she would've. What would you have done then? Why can't you just take someone else's advice for once? Someone who's dealt with Erasers all her life, who was forced to be part Eraser herself?"

I expected Fang to get defensive, to start yelling back. He was Fang. He didn't take stuff like this laying down. But he put his head in his hands and softly said, "I'm sorry."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Next time, learn to take someone else's advice."

"There isn't going to be a next time. I'm not going to be the leader anymore." Fang said.

I looked over at him in shock. "What?"

"I've been screwing up a lot. It was my fault that we got caught, it was my fault that Angel almost died, it was my fault you got hurt, and there's so many other times I've screwed up. And I can't risk it anymore." Fang replied.

I shoved him angrily and he fell sideways hitting the ground. Hmm…not nearly as satisfying as I thought it would be. I growled and gave him my death glare. "Listen, this flock is counting on you. And you will _not_ just walk away from them. Do you understand me? What else will you do? Who would take over for you? Like it or not, you're the leader, and you've got to keep everyone else's spirits up, no matter what. You need to make sure they don't lose hope. Do you understand me? You're not giving up. Not now, not ever. If you need help, I'll be happy to help and support you. But you can't give up. Because when you do, they'll give up too." I said angrily, pointing to the rest of our sleeping flock. "They count on you to lead them and protect them, to tell them what to do and where to go. Don't let them down."

Fang looked at me in shock. Then his face set in determination. "You're right." he murmured. "And I won't. Go get some sleep now. You're going to wear yourself out."

I sighed, then mocked saluted. "Aye, aye, captain." I said, getting up. I grimaced as I did so. The pain was coming back strong. I laid down on my side, the one that wasn't torn to shreds. I could've sworn I heard Fang say, "Thank you Max." before I fell asleep.

(Fang's POV)

You know, I think in her own special way, Max just comforted me. Which is weird, because it seemed to me like she was scolding me, and about to rip my ehad off. That's Max for you, I guess. She never was the mushy, "I'll hold your hand and tell you everything's going to be okay" type. She was the person who told it like it is, and helped you in ways you never thought possible. Like I never knew that being yelled at would give me the hope and determination I needed to go on. She really was an incredible girl.

**AN: Sorry if it's not that good. And I'm so sorry for the long update, but I've been traveling and my sister is getting ready to move to college, so it's a little hectic right now. But I'll try to update as soon as I can. Review!**


	8. How To Banish Sexist Pigs

**AN: Sorry about the long update guys, but my summer has been really busy. My sister is moving to college, I have band camp, and my dog had babies like two days ago, so I had to help take care of them. But they were so cute! And now that school's started, I'm being bombarded with AP Environmental and PreCalc homework. Not to mention my other stories. Anyways, here's the new chapter! Enjoy! And again, sorry about the long update. I'll try to update sooner, I promise!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR.**

(Fang's POV)

"Come on! Up and at 'em!" I yelled, tapping Max's leg with my foot.

She groaned and rolled over, wincing as her stitches stretched. "If I knew that our talk last night would do this to you, I would've just let you wallow in misery." she grumbled.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You're too happy and hyper." she replied, glaring at me.

"Get up, lazy bum." I replied, rolling my eyes.

"Go to Hell, stupid jerk." Max countered. I glared at her, but she just groggily sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"How are you feeling?" I asked. The others weren't up yet. I was still in the process of waking them up.

"Like I got ran over by a train. Or mauled by a couple Erasers. Your pick." she replied, rubbing the back of her neck. She stood up and walked over to Angel and Gazzy. She shook them awake, then moved to Iggy. I tackled Nudge, which took about five minutes. Finally, all of the flock was awake. We sat around the table and had hotdogs for breakfast. Healthy, right?

Max was sitting next to me. "I think we should stay here for a couple days. So you have plenty of time to heal." I said, glancing at her.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. We should keep going. Yes, we were far enough away from the Erasers considering the circumstances, but now?" She shook her head again. "It's only a matter of time before they find us." she said, grimacing.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "Alright, but still, I think we should take it easy. We don't want your stitches coming undone, and we definitely don't want you to put too much stress on your wounds." I said firmly. She sighed, but reluctantly agreed.

We all took off, going at an easy pace. No matter how much she wanted to act like she was fine, I saw Max grimace every now and then when her stitches stretched. She even reached up and rubbed her shoulder, rolling it a couple times. Whenever the others weren't looking, of course. We landed four hours later for lunch, and to let Max rest.

We walked into an old Chick-Fil-A and ordered out probably half the restaurant. We sat down with our food and dug in. "Are you okay, Max?" Angel asked.

Max sighed. "The next person that asks me that is going to get bit." she replied tiredly. We'd been constantly asking her how she felt the whole day, so I guess I can't really blame her. I'd be the same way. "But I feel better." she added, seeing Angel's hurt look.

Angel nodded and went back to eating. We ate quickly, all of us ready to get back on the road. We eventually took off again, arriving in D.C. in a couple of hours. Max was tense, constantly doing 360s. I was a little twitchy myself, and I could tell that Iggy hated it. He couldn't navigate well with all the different sounds. The younger three were fine though. "Maybe the big city wasn't our best idea." Max mumbled, doing yet another 360.

I shrugged. "The kids seem to be enjoying it. Besides, it'll be harder for the Erasers to find us with so many other people around. Which is why you should stop looking around. You look paranoid." I replied, ignoring the fact that I hated this place myself.

"I _am_ paranoid." Max replied, but she stopped looking around and focused on me. "Besides, my claustrophobia isn't handling the closed spaces very well. And I have the DNA of two wild animals in me that aren't meant to be in the big city. You do the math." she said. Her nostrils flared and she breathed deeply. "Although, I have to admit, they have some good smelling food around here."

She broke off from the group and went into a restaurant. The rest of us followed her, hungry like always. We ordered our food, Max going last. And get this. The cashier _flirted_ with her.

"That's a lot of food for one girl." he said, giving her a flirty smile. "You know, my shift ends at four. How about you ditch these losers and I'll show you a real good time."

"I already know a good time." Max replied, giving him a death glare. "Me kicking your sorry little ass."

Then she walked away and sat down at an empty booth, while Iggy yelled "Burn!" as loud as he could. I shook my head, grabbed the food, and followed Max. I sat down next to her and noticed she was still glaring at the cashier, who was still having trouble looking at her face, if you know what I mean.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Yeah. Sexist pigs just get on my nerves." she replied.

I chuckled. "His face was priceless though."

I saw her duck her head, trying to hide her smile. "Yeah." she agreed. "But, in all seriousness, what the hell is with guys and pick up lines?" she continued, raising an eyebrow at me. "Do guys really think that makes them look cool?"

I shrugged. "Sorry. Never used one."

"Thank God." I heard her mutter.

"That, my friend, is because you are an anti-social emo boy." Iggy said, sliding in across from us. Nudge and Gazzy slid in next to him, while Angel slid in next to me. Iggy leaned forward, like he was about to grace us with some miraculous wisdom. "You see, my dear Max," (Max rolled her eyes at that one.), "it is simply a conversation starter. It's supposed to make the girl laugh, whether it's at the cleverness of the pick-up line, or how stupid she thinks using one is." Iggy said. "It's because, believe it or not, guys are nervous as hell when they talk to girls and don't know what to say. So, they stick to pick-up lines, something someone else already came up with. And now you know."

Max rolled her eyes. "Sounds like a bunch of bull if you ask me. I think it's more along the lines of a guy trying to be funny and impress a girl and failing epically." she replied casually.

Our drinks and food came right then and, surprise, surprise, the cashier guy was the one who brought it to us. He stared at Max the whole time. "So, I was thinking about giving you a chance to reconsider." he said, smirking cockily at Max as he leaned on the table. "Come on, babe. I know you want me."

Max shook her head. "Nope." she replied. "I couldn't give less of a damn about you actually." She took a sip out of her drink, not even bothering to look up at him.

He scowled. "Look, bitch–"

Max did look up at that and raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" she asked.

"Listen, I don't need a slut like you–"

Max cut him off again. "Ah, I see what's going on here. Big bad me hurt your feelings." she said, talking in a baby voice. Then she snorted and glared at the guy. "Why don't you stop blubbering like an idiot and grow a pair?"

The guys face was red. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Max interrupted again. "And why don't you get out of here before I tear you spine out and beat you with it?" she added, growling, her death glare set firmly in place.

The guy couldn't have run away faster. All of us cracked up laughing while Max just sat there, looking quite smug. She looked at the girls. "Remember what you've seen here today. For one day, you too will be bombarded by sexist idiots. Remember what I have done to banish this pig, and no others will ever bug you for long." she said, as if she'd just won a war or something. I rolled my eyes, still chuckling. This is what I liked about Max. Even when she was pissed off at sexist pigs, she could make the flock laugh.

**AN: Sorry if this chapter isn't that good, but it's just a filler chapter. Nothing really important happens here, so I wasn't really sure what to put. But I promise I will try to update as soon as I can. Between homework, writer's block, and my other stories, I don't know how fast I can get to it. Also, I'm working on the chapters to my other two stories, Under The Surface and Mute.**

**Thank you for reading and please review, telling me what you think!**


	9. AN: SO SORRY!

**Hey guys. I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while, but I've been grounded for a long time. I can barely give you guys this. I'm sooooooo sorry and please forgive me. I swear I will update as soon as I can, but it's going to be hard. I'm really sorry that I can't update and be patient with me. There's only so much I can do, because I'm really stressed right now. **

**Your really apologetic author,**

**Wolflover777**


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